CHAPTER EIGHT: The Price of Wanting You18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkcyvX7AkIY
(Matteo’s POV)
He didn’t touch another client that week.
Not a single one.
He rescheduled them all. Blocked off hours. Told his assistant he was resting.
But Matteo wasn’t resting.
He was watching her sleep.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY9UySBdiq8
Cooking for her.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3vaXgjoKKe
Washing her wine glass in his sink and folding her cardigan when she left it on the couch.
He told himself it was temporary.
That this quiet intimacy was just borrowed time.
But every hour she stayed…18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYUA3gp09sJ
he wanted her for a lifetime.
Then the knock came.
Firm. Impatient.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQofnjWEpfv
Familiar.
Matteo opened the door—shirt half-buttoned, still tasting her goodbye kiss from that morning.
And there she was.
Evangeline.
Long black hair. Killer heels. Blood-red lips.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHncU8nW3M1
The woman who once called his bed her throne.
“Matteo,” she purred, leaning against the frame like she owned his air.
He didn’t flinch. “Why are you here?”
“You forgot who taught you how to touch women, darling?” she smiled darkly. “I built this version of you. I own it.”
“I’m not yours anymore.”
“You never stopped being mine.”18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYrHD8ipnaC
She stepped in uninvited.
Matteo didn’t stop her, but his hands curled into fists.
“What do you want?”
Evangeline ran a sharp finger down the glass table, looking around.
“Who is she?”
He froze.
“I smelled her,” she said, grin widening. “She’s been here. In your sheets. In your mouth.”
Silence.
“You fell, didn’t you?” she laughed, low and cruel. “You stupid, soft idiot. You fell for one of them.”
“She’s not like the others.”
“Oh, Matteo…”18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsi5svQ8FK9
Her voice dropped.
“You know what happens when you choose someone.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhE25ciw8Gx
They take her. They break her.”
He moved before she could blink.
Shoved her against the wall—not with lust, but rage.
“Don’t touch her. Don’t even say her name.”
Evangeline only smirked.
“She’s yours now. Fine.”18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHy35D8WB8B
Then her voice turned cold.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhrTrowDmMM
“But don’t think the people you’ve crossed will stay quiet.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqso87brXx2
You want to play house, Matteo?18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5SIBtrpwGK
Then be ready to bury it when they come.”
She left. Just like that.
But her words stayed.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIqpSuwG9Wy
Like acid on his skin.
That night, when she texted him “goodnight” with a little heart emoji…18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc42vEVXlo3
He stared at it for a long time.
Because loving her was no longer a secret.
Now, it was a risk.
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